Beags,
Come on chap stay on topic, you're original rant which it would appear I had the temerity to question was
" So that'll be 13 years to bring into service a helicopter with about 68% of the lifting capacity of the well-proven Mi 26 'Halo' then.....
The Mi 26 was introduced into service some 24 years ago. And yet all Europe can do is to propose an expensive program which will have nothing like the Mi 26's capability some
37 years later?
Why??
To which I alluded that comparisons could be drawn with the A400M prog which, if you take it back to it's FLA roots will have taken well over 25 years to come to fruition and only has, thank you for the maths GK, 49.467% of the lift capability of the C17.
Now you wish to introduce payload and range into the equation
Maximum payload capacity of the C-17 is 170,900 pounds (77,519 kilograms), and its maximum gross takeoff weight is 585,000 pounds (265,352 kilograms). With a payload of 169,000 pounds (76,657 kilograms) and an initial cruise altitude of 28,000 feet (8,534 meters), , the C-17 has an unrefueled range of approximately 2,400 nautical miles. Its cruise speed is approximately 450 knots (.76 Mach).
For the A400M
- Max. Operating Speed: 300 kt CAS (560 km/h, 350 mph)
- Initial Cruise Altitude: at MTOW: 9,000 m (29,000 ft))
- Range: at Max. payload: 3,300 km (1,782 nmi) (long range cruise speed; reserves as per MIL-C-5011A)
Payload range ?...........and you're point is what?